“The reason why Toyota doesn’t introduce any major [all-electric product] is because we do not believe there is a market to accept it,” Mr. Uchiyamada said in an interview following a speech on Monday at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

That’s not to say Toyota hasn’t benefited from its partnership with electric vehicle maker, Tesla Motors. Toyota has received a powertrain for its RAV4 electric vehicle and also some venture-fueled excitement for its employees. Oh — and it also has paper gains of approximately $503 million on the 2.941 million shares of stock it bought in Elon Musk’s company.

When Toyota Motor Corp. gets a plan in place, it’s not easily deterred. That may be the moral behind the latest revamp of the Japanese auto maker’s SAI sedan.

The SAI, a small, high-end sedan sold only with a gas-electric engine, was launched in Japan four years ago, amid Toyota’s ambitious, multi-year push into hybrids. Sales have always been weak: Toyota sold 3,800 of the vehicles the first month they were available, but never managed to top 3,000 again — even on an annual basis. During the first seven months of this year, Toyota sold only 410 of the cars — versus a target of 3,000 per month, or 21,000. Read More »

Is Toyota starting to feel a little heat as the temperature rises in the hybrid car market?

The world’s biggest car maker has led the way in the gasoline-electric vehicle market for years, with its rivals desperate to find out the inner workings of its hybrid technology as they sought to catch up.

But the decision by Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday to pull out of joint hybrid vehicle development with Toyota is the latest indication of growing confidence among the Japanese car maker’s rivals in their ability to compete using their own technology in a global market that grew by more than 75% last year. Read More »

A new Japanese car has claimed domestic bragging the rights for the best fuel-economy rating—and it’s not a Toyota.

Honda Motor Co. said Friday that the hybrid version of the upcoming redesigned Fit compact was rated at 36.4 kilometers a liter, or about 85.6 miles a gallon, based on testing protocols by Japan’s transport ministry.

Shanghai’s auto show is filled with hybrids and electric cars – a big industry theme in the months since massive blankets of pollution covered entire regions.

But Honda Motor Co. CEO Takanobu Ito doesn’t think Chinese consumers are looking for green-tech rides despite the new wave of eco-friendly cars unveiled during the show, or amid and the Japanese auto maker’s own push to strengthen its hybrid lineup in recent years.

Once seen as aimed mainly at the niche of environmentally conscious rich people, Toyota Motor Corp.’s hybrid vehicles are quickly gathering steam worldwide.

Consider: Earlier this week, Japan’s biggest auto maker said that, as of April 30, it had sold a total of 4 million hybrids globally since it first launched its Coaster hybrid model in 1997. That came just 14 months after hitting the 3 million mark. That was quicker than the year and a half needed for sales to jump from 2 million to 3 million. It took two years to go from 1 million to 2 million. And, it took 10 long years to hit the first million.

For this year, the car maker expects its global annual hybrid sales to top 1 million for the first time. Read More »

Car owner Heather Peters had earlier won an award of $9,867 after claiming the car maker misrepresented the fuel economy of her 2006 Civic, which was rated at 50 miles per gallon. Honda had appealed the ruling.

The case stoked debate over perceived disparities between the fuel economy ratings of the Civic Hybrid and other hybrid gasoline-electric powered vehicles.

Is a luxury brand truly complete without a halo car anchoring the line-up? That’s a question Nissan Motor Co.’s premium brand has struggled with since it cashiered its full-size Infiniti Q45 luxury saloon in 2006. Now, with the Japanese auto maker attempting to reboot Infiniti with a big push into China, Nissan is dropping hints about a successor to the Q.

“We do clearly see that there is room for a top-of-the-line image maker,” Andy Palmer, executive vice president in charge of Infiniti said in an interview. “What we’ve been experimenting with — which means it’s not decided — are two concept cars, Essence and Emerg-E.” Read More »

Lexus today unveiled its redesigned 2013 ES 350 midsize sedan and the first hybrid version of the long-running model, the ES 300h. Lexus said it designed the new car to have a more attractive and defined look compared with earlier versions, and engineered it for sharper handling.

Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a plug-in hybrid concept car called the NS4 at the Detroit auto show. The car maker said the new design is separate from the Prius family of hybrid vehicles and represents the company’s vision for future cars.

About Japan Real Time

Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com